Flexible buffer



Sem W, 19352 A. E. MOORHEAD ZMZ? FLEXIBLE BUFFER Original Filed July ZV, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 flag, 3

SEM- 1-7 1935-- A. E. MooRHEAD MZ? FLEXIBLE BUFFER Original Filed July 5, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /4 #awa @y Patented Sept. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLEXIBLE BUFFER Application July 3, 1931, Serial No. 548,697 Renewed February 23, 1935 9 Claims.

This invention relates to a flexible buffer rotor, and 'more particularly to a centrifugal force expanding exible buffer that urges a iioor polishing material in a floating contactual relationship toa floor surface, Vin order to impart a hard surfacing finish of high lustre, thereto.

To properly finish a iioor surface with a surfacing material such as wax, it is essential to first remove all dirt and stains. This was at first performed manually with a rag saturated with oil or gasoline or some solution prepared for that purpose. After the floor was cleaned and dried, shavings of pure beeswax were inserted between successive layers of folded fabric such as cheesecloth, which were then rubbed over the floor surface by means of a heavily weighted brush. Due to the weight of the brush and the constant rubbing of the material over the floor thereby, friction was created, and consequently heat which caused the wax to `melt and saturate the fabric. The wax now coming in contact with the floor created in time a smooth hard wax finish thereon which served as a pleasing background for *rugs or the like.

With the advent of the so-called liquid wax and lighter weighted brushes into the market, the floor waxing process was slightly modied. A cloth saturated with this liquid wax was bound over a brush and propelled back and forth over a floor to produce the desired effect. As 'the cloth soonbecame dirty or worn out, it had to be changed quite frequently; and consequently as this entailed considerable time and effort before the desired effect was produced, this method soon became obsolete.

In recent years the market has been literally iiooded with floor polishing machines Awhich utilized an electrically driven rotor over which the wax saturated material was bound. These rotors were made of a Yrelatively rigid non-yielding material such as metal, wood, or solid felt which when driven over the oor at a high burnis'hing speed in the order -of 1000 to 1500 R. P. M.s bouncedA about due 'to the inherent unevenness or roughness of `the rotors per se, or the floor surface. Consequently, the floor was v.polished `only in spots-and accordingly, it did not'posse'ss the desired uniform finish; Moreover,

no suitable means were provided on these rotors for quickly removing the dirty clothsV and attaching clean ones', and-accordihgly-these prior art fdevices 'have 'met with little or 4no success.

`The objections inherent in the rotors ofV the prior arthave been overcome byimeans of-my novel rhigh speed vburnisher "that-.urges a pretreated fabric with a flexible, resilient and floating contact to a floor and thereby produces the desired uniform finish thereon.

The rotor'for accomplishing this is formed by simply winding loosely around the driving core a f5 long strip of felt. In order to prevent the felt from sluiting sidewise on the core when in use, sharp pins are embedded in the core with the points projecting therefrom, and the felt is wound over these pins. Before the last circumference 10 of the felt is wound on, common carpet tacks are forced through the outer layers until their points extend below the points of the pins. The heads of these tacks are then covered by the last circumference of the felt to prevent them from coming 15 in contact with the floor.

It is quite apparent from the foregoing that these rotors when rotated at a high speed will expand a predetermined distance due to the action of the centrifugal force on the loosely wound felt 20 pad. This pad cannot expand beyond the predetermined limits, or become displaced laterally due to the pins and tacks which permit only the desired expansion. It is quite evident that each and every layer of the felt pad will be acted upon by the centrifugal force to urge them apart or outwardly with the consequent formation of air cushions between each layer. As has been hereinabove set forth, this is very desirable due to the formation of a iiexible resilient rotor which oatingly urges the `saturated cloth in contact With all portions of the floor surface.

A simple expedient is provided on this rotor for quickly removing old or attaching new .pretreated cloths. 35

When the last layer of felt has been wound over the core, it is sewed to the underlying layer adjacent its extremity. In this manner a flap is provided to the under side of which pointed hooks are-secured. One end of a. pretreated fabric of the 4'desired length is placed under the flap and the pointed hooks are pressed through it and into the felt pad. The pretreated fabric can be then power wound over the flexible felt pad and then rotated over a floor to produce the desired result. Any desired length of a pretreated fabric can be utilized, although I prefer to use the material disclosed Vin my copending application to a door polishing material, Serial No. 473,090, led May 3, 1930, and which has matured into Patent #1,947,135, issued February 13, 1934.

It isY therefore an object of .my invention to provide a centrifugal force expanding flexible buffer of the type described .which obviates .the

objections-inherent in the priorart devices.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a flexible resilient buffer which is simple in design and construction, relatively inexpensive in manufacture, and which is capable of use for an indefinite period of time.

My invention possesses many other advantages, and has other objects which may be made more easily apparent from a consideration of one embodiment of my invention. For this purpose I have shown a form in the drawings .ac.

companying and forming part of the present specification. I shall now proceed to describe this form in detail, which illustrates the general principles of my invention; but it is to be understood that this detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the scope of my invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my flexible buffer and a roll of pretreated fabric, showing the manner of attaching the pretreated material to the buffer;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of my iiexible buffer taken substantially along the plane 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section thereof taken substantially along the plane 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of a modified form of the flexible buffer shown in Figs. 1 3; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse section thereof taken substantially along the plane 5-5 of Fig. 4.

The flexible buffer rotor embodying my invention is adapted to be used in and driven by a floor treating head such as a floor polisher, or combination floor polisher and vacuum sweeper. Power for rotating this rotor is supplied by means of a motor forming a part of the head to which electric current from any suitable source may be applied.

The rotor, designated by the numeral I0 comprises a drive shaft I I which is rotated by a suitable rotating clutching mechanism in the head in a manner to be described.

A core l2 of aluminum or other suitable metal is keyed to the rotor driven shaft II and is adapted to be driven thereby. This is effected by means of a disk I3 having a central aperture coinciding with the periphery of the shaft II at one end thereof, and by the screw bolts I4 which thread into the core to maintain the disk on the shaft. As is clearly apparent from Fig. 1, the end of shaft Il is provided with flattened portions I5 and I6 in order to accomplish this.

The rotor drive shaft II is adapted to be rotated by a clutching mechanism in the head about a cone shaped ball bearing stub shaft (not shown) carried by the side walls of the head. This stub shaft, when in engaging position, coacts with a cone shaped bearing I1 formed in the end of the driven shaft II adjacent the disk I3.

A cooperating clutching member is provided in the rotor as by a slot I8 formed in the other end of the rotor shaft Il. A disk shaped recess I9 having an extension 2i] is formed in the core I2. The clutching element in the head is adapted to enter these recesses and engage the slot I8 in the shaft II in order to drive the latter. A member 2I telescopes over the end of the shaft H and in effect forms an extension thereof which surrounds the opening 2Q. This member serves as a bearing for the rotating clutching element in the head.

An elongated recess 22 is, formed in the shaft II which leads into the slot I8. This recess serves to house a compression spring 23 which urges a ball 24 against the rotating clutching element in the head. This ball and spring in the rotor drive shaft II act to take up any variations in the length thereof, and urges the shaft Il to the right to keep bearing I1 against its cooperating shaft.

A flexible resilient pad or support 25 for a pretreated oor treating material 26 is formed about the core I2. The support 25 is formed by simply winding in a loose fashion, a long strip of felt similar to billiard cloth until the support is in the order of from 3A to 1 inch in thickness. The layers of felt wound in the manner hereinabove described would shift sidewise when in use, and accordingly destroy the flexible cushioning effect thereof. To prevent this, sharp pins 31 are embedded in the core I2 with the points thereof extending outwardly. The felt layers comprising the support 25 are wound on the core over the pins 21 in a manner readily apparent from the drawings.

Before the last circumference of the felt layers is wound on, common carpet tacks 28 are forced through the outer layers just past the points of the pins 21. The heads of the tacks 28 are prevented from coming in contact with the floor by the last turn of the felt layers.

It is quite evident from the foregoing that the centrifugal force set up by rotating the rotors I0 will act to cause the resilient support or pad 25 to expand a predetermined distance outwardly. The pins 21 and the tacks 28 effectively prevent the lateral displacement of the layers constituting the pad. It follows from the foregoing that each and every layer of the felt pad would be acted upon evenly to force them apart or outwardly, thus forming air cushions between the successive layers which form a floating support for oatingly urging the floor treating material 26 in contact with all portions of the floor surface.

When the last layer of felt has been wound over the core, it is secured to the layer imrnediately below it, as by the line of stitching 29. The stitching 29 is along a line spaced from the end of the felt material to form a flap 30 in a manner readily apparent from Fig. 3. To the underside of the flap 30 pointed hooks 3| are secured in any desirable manner as by sewing 32.

The operation of the device is readily apparent from the foregoing and from an inspection of Fig. 1. One end of a desired length of pretreated fabric, from a supply roll 33 is placed under the fiap 3E) and the hooks 3| pressed through it and into the permanent felt flexible pad 25. 'I'he material is then power wound on the rotor I0 and is ready for use. It is a simple expedient to replace the pretreated material after it becomes soiled or worn out.

In actual practice, the core I2 is formed by casting aluminum with the pins 21 therein. These pins are quite similar in shape and design to the conventional phonograph needles. It is to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to the specific core and drive shaft shown and described, as it is equally applicable to any form of driven core. If desired, the core could be formed of wood or the like.

As these rotors are designed for use under high speeds, and as they are relatively heavy, being in the order of four inches in diameter by five inches in length, it is desirable to provide bearings at the end of the drive shaft, as for instance the bearing I1. This serves to steady the drive shaft and eliminate any whipping action at the end thereof. This whipping action, if permitted, would cause excessive wear and thereby materially reduce the life of the rotor. Due to the exible yielding action of the felt pad 25, the rotor Il) will not bounce over a floor when driven thereover and will in fact serve as an effective means for urging the pretreated material against all portions of the oor surface, even the low or sub-spots.

In Figs. e and 5 a slightly modified form of my invention is shown. This form is substantially similar to that shown in Figs 1-3, and differs therefrom, in general, by the insertion of a sponge rubber cushioning layer 34 between the core 35 and the flexible pad 25. As it is desirable to maintain substantially the same overall diameter in this rotor as in rotor I0, the diameter of the core 35 is made considerably smaller than that of core l2 in order to compensate for the thickness of cushioning layer 34. The sponge rubber cushioning layer is secured to core 35, and relative lateral movement between layer 34 and core 35 is prevented as by counter-sunk screws 36.

The flexible pad 25 is formed, as before, by winding in a loose fashion, a long strip of felt similar to billiard cloth until the pad is in the order of from 3A" to 1 inch in thickness. Relative sidewise shifting of the felt layers constituting pad 25 is prevented by means of long nails 3l. These nails are forced through the felt layers and into the sponge rubber cushioning layer prior to winding the last layer of material thereon. The heads of nails 31 are prevented from coming in contact with the floor by the last turn of the felt.

In all other respects this iiexible rotor is similar in design and operation to that described in connection with Figs. 1-3. The use of an intermediate sponge rubber cushioning layer such as 34 serves to further enhance the iiexible characteristics of the rotor.

I claim:

1. A permanent buffer rotor about which a desired length of a floor treating material is adapted to be wound comprising, a core, means forming a iiexible resilient pad about the core, and means for so supporting said pad on the core as to permit the pad to expand, and an intermediate cushioning layer between the core and the pad.

2. A permanent buffer rotor about which a. desired length of a floor treating material is adapted to be Wound comprising, a core, means forming a iiexible resilient pad about the core, and means for so supporting said pad on the core as to permit the pad to expand, and an intermediate sponge rubber cushioning layer between the core and the pad.

termediate sponge rubber cushioning layer between the pad and the core.

4. In a buffer rotor, a core, successive loose windings of yielding material around the core, said windings having no material tension and means for preventing the said material from being wound tightly around the core when the rotor is in use.

5. In a buffer rotor, a core, successive loose windings of yielding material around the core, said windings having no material tension and means for preventing the said material from being Wound tightly around the core when the rotor is in use, comprising means holding spaced parts of the material against angular motion with respect to the core.

6. A floor treating roll, comprising a plurality of loosely wound layers of thick, yielding fabric, means for holding the layers against winding up tightly, and a superposed layer of material that operates as a floor treating medium.

'7. A floor treating roll, comprising a support, yielding means thereon, forming a substantially cylindrical body for the roll, and means for loosely holding the yielding means on the support, so that said yielding means is responsive to the operation of centrifugal force to expand it, when the roll is rapidly rotated.

8. In a floor treating roll, a supporting core, yielding means loosely wrapped around the core, and means for preventing said yielding means from tightening around the core, as well as for securing said means to the core, comprising anchoring devices angularly -spaced around the core and engaging the yielding means at angularly placed points.

9. In a floor treating roll, a supporting core, yielding means wrapped around the core, means for preventing said yielding means from tightening around the core, as well as for securing said means to the core, comprising anchoring devices angularly spaced around the core and engaging the yielding means at angularly placed points, said yielding means having a free ap at its outer end, and an outer layer of floor treating material attached at one end only to said` ap. i i l l ALBERT E. MOORHEAD'. 

